Internet Hardware

13 companies everyone wants to work for

24/7Wall St.

BMW

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BMW

BMW has been a top 15 desired employer in each of the past three years, according to employer-branding firm Universum. The company is an even better workplace for aspiring engineers; BMW is the only nontech company rated by Universum as one of the top-five desired workplaces for engineers. The BMW brand, one of the world’s most valuable, is “synonymous with class, performance and style,” according to Interbrand — qualities that likely make employees proud to work there. According to BrandZ, BMW is the most valuable car brand in the world. The company has also been extremely successful in recent months: unit sales in the third quarter of 2012 were up 9% year-over-year, leading to a growth of 16% in net profit compared with the year before. See full story from 24/Wall St.: The companies everyone wants to work for

L’Oréal

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L’Oréal

For the first nine months of 2012, L’Oréal reported 10.9% sales growth from the same time period the year before. Discussing the company’s strong sales, Chairmen and CEO Jean-Paul Agon cited L’Oréal’s ability to innovate — an ability recognized by Thomson Reuters, which named the cosmetics company in its 2011 top 100 global innovator report. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently warned the company about some of its newest beauty products, saying these so-called “cosmeceuticals” blur the line between drugs and cosmetics, at least in their marketing claims.

Reuters

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Apple

Apple Inc.
AAPL, -1.92%
connects with customers, and this is reflected in the company’s brand value. Interbrand rates Apple as the world’s second most valuable brand, behind only Coca-Cola, with a worth of more than $76 billion. Apple has an even higher rating from BrandZ, which assesses the brand’s worth at almost $183 billion — by far the world’s most valuable. Apple’s employees also think highly of the company. According to Glassdoor, Apple is the 10th best place to work in the U.S. based on employee reviews. Its stock price has risen more than 200% in the past five years, largely on the success of iPhone and iPad. The company has also been unafraid to make the necessary changes to keep its workforce happy. For instance, retail head John Browett was asked to leave after just five months on the job because new staffing formulas cut employees’ hours too heavily.

Reuters

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Goldman Sachs

The image of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
GS, -1.86%
has taken a hit in the past few years following several high-profile controversies. These included a Senate committee finding that the bank bet against collateralized-debt obligations it sold to clients, allegations that Goldman masked Greek debt, and a highly publicized resignation letter in the New York Times by now former executive Greg Smith. Still, the firm is generally regarded as the most prestigious on Wall Street. High compensation is certainly an appeal — of the largest banks, Goldman Sachs pays its employees the most. In the first six months of 2012, the company set aside $225,789 for each employee on average. Rival Morgan Stanley set aside $137,548 during that time, while J.P. Morgan investment bank set aside $184,989 for its staff. Goldman is also very exclusive. Almost 300,000 people applied for positions at the bank in 2010 and 2011, with a 4% acceptance rate, and the bank currently employs roughly 32,000 people.

Coca-Cola

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Coca-Cola

As a brand, Coca-Cola Co.
KO, -0.74%
is so famous that its core product has become a synonym for soda. According to Interbrand, the Coca-Cola brand is worth almost $78 billion and has “a name that is more universally recognized than any other in the world.” In addition to its brand, Coke identifies its people as the second of its two core assets, helping the company innovate and develop new drinks, new packaging, and new equipment. Employees also benefit from a company that is both exceptionally large, with operations in over 200 countries, and stable — as demonstrated by 50 consecutive years of dividend growth through 2011.

Reuters

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J.P. Morgan Chase

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
JPM, -1.56%
was able, to a large extent, avoid devastation from the downturn of the housing market, unlike rivals such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The firm has emerged stronger than ever. While banks drastically cut head count in the years following the financial crisis, J.P. Morgan has expanded its ranks, though much of that has come from acquisitions. Between the end of fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2012, J.P. Morgan increased its head count by 65,000. People hold the company in high regard as well. A recent survey of 3,500 Wall Street professionals conducted by Vault ranked J.P. Morgan Investment Bank as the best investment bank to work at in North America, a position it held last year as well.

Bjørn Erik Pedersen

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PricewaterhouseCoopers

In each of the past three years PricewaterhouseCoopers has been rated by Universum as one of the world’s most desired employers among business students. Fortune also ranks the professional-services firm as one of the 100 best companies to work for. Among the reasons for PricewaterhouseCoopers’s high ranking are the fully paid sabbaticals and the mentoring program for expecting mothers. Employees also like working at the company, which was named by Glassdoor as one of the 50 best places to work, as measured by employee reviews. The company, which provides auditing, assurance and tax services, among other offerings, has total revenues exceeding $31 billion.

Reuters

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Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms, but the company provides a whole host of services for a wide range of industries, including banking, oil and gas, technology, real estate and many others. Ernst & Young helps other companies meet its tax and regulatory requirements, but it also provides advisory services on strategy and raising capital, among others. The company has a presence in 140 different countries and has made considerable investments in emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India and parts of Africa. Forbes ranks Ernst & Young as the best accounting firm to work for in 2012, a survey that took into account both prestige and quality of life for employees.

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Deloitte

In each of the past three years, Deloitte has been one of the top five desired employers according to Universum, making the consulting group one of just three companies to achieve this distinction. The firm, which provides consulting, audit, tax and risk management services to clients world-wide, employs more than 56,000 people and has annual revenues exceeding $13 billion in the U.S. alone. According to Fortune, which rates Deloitte as one of its 100 best companies to work for, the average pay for a senior consultant, the most common position at the company, is more than $86,000. The company has received accolades for military hiring, LGBT equality and women’s advancement.

Reuters

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Microsoft

Alongside Apple, Google Inc. and International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp.
MSFT, -1.70%
is considered one of the top five brands in the world by both Interbrand and BrandZ. The company, which offers Windows, Xbox, Skype and Microsoft Office, has been a top choice among business students in each of the past three years, according to Universum. Further, Microsoft has been listed in Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for each year since 1998, although the company ranked just 76th in Fortune’s 2012 report. However, the company had a mediocre quarter to begin fiscal 2013. Revenue in the first quarter fell by 8% and operating income fell by 26% year-over-year, while earnings per share fell from 68 cents in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 to 53 cents in fiscal 2013. The company’s stock has risen by 13.8% in the past 12 months, about the same as the S&P 500 index.

Procter & Gambleproducts

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Procter & Gamble

Procter & Gamble Co.
PG, -0.40%
, the maker of Crest toothpaste and Tide laundry detergent, has a host of job opportunities for business graduates in many of its departments. Prominent alumni include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman. But the largest consumer goods company in the world has had challenges recently. Profit has declined for the past several years, and the company announced in February it planned to slash 5,700 jobs over four years as part of a plan to cut $10 billion in costs.

KMPG

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KPMG

For the third consecutive year, KPMG was named by business students as the world’s second most desirable company to work for, according to Universum. Chairman Michael Andrew noted that “attracting top students into our firms enables us to bring in the best talent, expertise and knowledge to our clients.” The company earned at least $20 billion in revenue in both fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 from its auditing , advisory and tax services businesses. However, in its survey of top employers, Forbes ranks KPMG the lowest among the Big Four accounting firms.

Reuters

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Google

Google Inc.
GOOG, -1.72%
tops the list of the world’s most attractive employers, a position the company has now held for the past four years. The company also ranks first on Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for, and it isn’t hard to see why. Fortune points out that the company’s headquarters, dubbed the Googleplex, contains boccie courts, a bowling alley and 25 cafes company wide. “Employees are never more than 150 feet away from a well-stocked pantry,” one Google employee told the magazine. The company is also generally known for its laid-back corporate environment, with one of the company’s philosophies, “you can be serious without a suit.” Employees, even those not at the top, have also reaped financial success. Software engineers at Google were paid a base salary of $128,336 in 2012, well above the average of $92,648 for all software engineers.

Reuters

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Google

Google Inc.
US:GOOG
tops the list of the world’s most attractive employers, a position the company has now held for the past four years. The company also ranks first on Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for, and it isn’t hard to see why. Fortune points out that the company’s headquarters, dubbed the Googleplex, contains boccie courts, a bowling alley and 25 cafes company wide. “Employees are never more than 150 feet away from a well-stocked pantry,” one Google employee told the magazine. The company is also generally known for its laid-back corporate environment, with one of the company’s philosophies, “you can be serious without a suit.” Employees, even those not at the top, have also reaped financial success. Software engineers at Google were paid a base salary of $128,336 in 2012, well above the average of $92,648 for all software engineers.

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